"Sunday was a little tough; it's not like we have a built-in habit in dealing with losing," said Martin, a 1986 Rich East graduate. "Hanging out with my family was good therapy. My three-year old has no idea and my seven-year old just wanted to play Nintendo. No one was feeling sorry for us."

Don't get Martin wrong -- he doesn't like to lose and he can point to a number of milestones and statistics that vividly illustrate what type of program he runs at Grand Valley State, which is located in Allendale, Mich., approximately 25 west of Grand Rapids.

The 40 straight wins was the fourth-longest streak among any division in NCAA history and before last Saturday's loss, the Lakers had won an incredible 10 consecutive playoff games. Since starting the 2000 season 1-4, GVSU has only lost six of 103 games. And this year's senior class is the fourth in a row to win at least 50 games in their respective careers.

"It's not any different than anything else in life -- you have to have good people," said Martin. "We've had a lot of talented players and a lot of talented coaches come through here. Everyone has kind of bought in to being unselfish for the good of the team."

Martin, 38, came to Grand Valley in 2000 as then-head coach Brian Kelly's defensive coordinator. When Kelly, now at Cincinnati, left for Central Michigan, Martin was promoted to the head job and has worked hard to foster the kind of environment in which players and coaches sacrifice individual accolades in exchange for winning.

Two examples of that: This year's leading receiver only ranked ninth in the conference in receptions and the running game was handled predominantly by three ball carriers who each gained over 500 yards.

Is it easier to maintain this "team-first' attitude over time?

"Once guys have a ring, they tend to start getting selfish; they start thinking, 'What about me?,' " said Martin. "It's like that way with coaches, too. They start wanting to be a coordinator or a head coach. We've done a pretty good job fighting it off, but we guard against it."

Martin has climbed the coaching ladder at a fairly rapid pace after coming into the game from a different background than most. After playing football and basketball and receiving an accounting degree from Decatur's Millikin University, he worked for two years in downtown Chicago as an auditor for Deloitte & Touche.

But he always knew in the back of his mind he wanted to coach.

After putting away the suit and tie, he secured a graduate assistant position at Mankato (Minn.) State, where he finished his Master's degree. His first full-time coaching job was at Wittenberg (Ohio) University for two years. He then served at his alma mater for two additional seasons before moving into Division I in 1998 as linebackers coach at Eastern Michigan. He landed as Grand Valley's defensive coordinator after the Eastern Michigan staff was let go.

"How many people get their biggest break from being canned?" said Martin. "I've felt like the luckiest son of a gun in the world. There's tremendous support from the administration here. They do whatever they can to allow us to be successful."

As successful as the Lakers have been, it's inevitable that Martin's name is mentioned regarding positions at bigger schools. He was recently a finalist for the Northern Illinois job and is bound to be on schools' radar screens next year as well.

Despite the increase in attention, Martin and his family aren't looking to leave. But he points to one overriding factor when explaining why most in-demand coaches see greener pastures elsewhere.

"This sounds bad, but the only reason I'll ever leave here is because of money," said Martin, who illustrates his point by referencing his former boss, Kelly, who Martin estimates has increased his salary ten-fold in the two coaching moves he's made since leaving Grand Valley.

"It doesn't matter what profession you're in, if you can do the same job and make a lot more money, you're going to listen."

Given the program's remarkable level of success recently, Martin and his staff are perhaps better able to attract superior talent than some competitors. Given his familiarity with the Chicagoland area, Martin would probably recruit the city and suburbs more heavily if it weren't for the steep tuition for out-of-state student-athletes at Grand Valley.

Unlike Division I schools, Grand Valley only has 36 scholarships to utilize for its entire roster. Martin can divvy them up between as many players as he wants, likening the system to how the NFL allocates money to players under the salary cap.

Whenever Martin does get into Chicago, for business or for pleasure, though, there's one part of his trip he almost never overlooks.

In 2007, Bergman ranked third on the team with 37 receptions for 421 yards and two touchdowns for the Big Red and becomes the school's first-ever AFCA all-American. He and Ittersagen were both first-team all-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin picks this year.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 298-pound Blanchard has started every game (57) at left guard for Mount Union since his arrival as a freshman and was part of the squad that lost in the Division III national championship game Saturday, 41-31 to Wisconsin-Whitewater to fall short in a bid for the school's third straight national championship. He set the school record for most starts in a career in the school's Dec. 8 semifinal win Blanchard was also a finalist for the Gagliardi Award, handed out annually to Division III football's top student/athlete.

Ittersagen was an honorable mention AFCA all-American pick as a sophomore in 2006 and was named this season's CCIW Defensive Player of the Year. This year he led the Thunder in tackles (72) and passes broken up (18) and tied for the lead with three interceptions. He also returned 28 punts for 404 yards and two touchdowns. Ittersagen is a three-time first-team all-CCIW pick on defense.

Pynenberg set school records this year for tackles (168) and tackles for loss (26½), in addition to notching eight sacks and three interceptions. He also holds the career records for tackles and tackles for loss and was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year the last two seasons.

 Five players with local ties were recently named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. The award is given annually to the nation's best collegiate baseball player.

Purdue junior first baseman/outfielder Ryne White (St. Rita) comes off a 2007 season in which he ranked third in the nation with a .452 batting average. The first-team All-Big Ten pick led the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and hits. In his first college season in 2005, White was a second-team all-conference selection as well as being named a Freshman All-American by Baseball America.

Northern Illinois junior pitcher Andy Deain (Prairie Ridge) will look to again be a workhorse for the Huskies in 2008. Last year, he came out of the bullpen and finished 6-1 with a 2.03 ERA and one save. The six wins tied him for the team lead and his 33 appearances ranked second in the Mid-American Conference and was the second-highest total in school history. He was unbeaten in four conference decisions and didn't allow a run in 19 innings of non-conference work.

Southern Illinois junior catcher Mark Kelly (Hoffman Estates) emerged last year as one of the Salukis' best players. He was a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference pick after batting .379 -- a year after only having 45 at-bats. His 88 hits a year ago led the MVC and his 63 runs batted in tied for the top spot. Already this school year, Kelly has been named as one of the nation's top 15 catchers entering 2008 by rivals.com.

Western Michigan junior pitcher Ethan Hollingsworth (Plainfield South) will again serve as the Broncos' No. 1 starter in 2008. In 2007, he recorded a 4-4 record with a 2.55 ERA in 11 starts. Also in 2007, Hollingsworth didn't allow a single home run and only walked 18 batters in 74 innings. He is a two-time all-MAC pick and also was the 2006 MAC Freshman of the Year.

Eastern Kentucky junior pitcher Christian Friedlich (Loyola) rounds out the local nominees. As a sophomore, Friedrich posted a 5-4 record with a 2.09 ERA, which led the Ohio Valley Conference. He also led the league in opposing batting average (.155), strikeouts (101), and strikeouts per nine innings (11.1). In 2006, the southpaw was named a Freshman All-American by Baseball America following a campaign that saw him go 10-2 with a 1.98 ERA. Those numbers earned him OVC Freshman of the Year honors and capped a season that also included the fifth no-hitter in school history.

 In men's basketball, Bowling Green senior forward Ryne Hamblet (Von Steuben) is again one of the Falcons' top players. He has started all nine games and is third on the team in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game, and leads the squad with a team-high 43 assists, which ranked second in the Mid-American Conference heading into last week.

Hamblet didn't play in the Falcons' 69-58 loss to Illinois State Sunday but scored a career-high 23 points in the previous game at Northern Colorado Dec. 6, including four 3-pointers. He transferred to Bowling Green for the 2006-07 campaign after playing two seasons at Chipola (Fla.) Junior College, where he was a two-time all-conference pick.

 Valparaiso senior guard Jarryd Loyd (Niles West) is serving as a nice spark for the Crusaders off the bench again this year. Loyd has been instrumental in Valpo's 10-1 start, ranking fourth on the squad with a 10.3 point per game average. He had one of his more complete games of the season last Tuesday in Valparaiso's 75-67 win over Evansville, scoring 15 points with five rebounds and four assists. He followed that up with only three points and three rebounds Saturday in a 90-61 win over Chicago State.

Loyd started for the Crusaders for the majority of his first two college seasons but came off the bench last year, averaging 6.4 points per game. With his team-high 37 assists this year, Loyd has moved into the school's top ten all-time in that category.

 Two local products played a sizable role Dec. 8 as Southern Illinois' men's and women's swimming and diving teams claimed dual meet wins over St. Louis. Junior swimmer Kelly Dvorak (Willowbrook) and sophomore diver Kyle Carevic (Sandburg) were both recipients last week of conference performer of the week honors.

Dvorak was the Missouri Valley Conference recipient last Monday, two days after finishing second in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:41.77 and winning the 200 backstroke with a time (2:09.65) against St. Louis. She also swam on two winning relays -- the 200 medley (1:47.83) and the 400 medley (3:56.94).

She's been a first-team all-MVC pick in each of her first two college seasons at both the 100 and 200 back and she'll attempt to break through for a win at February's conference meet. In her previous two appearances at the MVC meet, Dvorak has finished second and third in 200 Back and third twice in the 100 Back.

On the men's side, Carevic won the weekly award from the Sun Belt Conference, in which the Saluki men's diving team competes. He was a two-event winner against St. Louis, claiming both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events with respective scores 273.07 and 245.10.